Neuroinflammation and Parkinson’s disease - from neurodegeneration to therapeutic opportunities

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Clinically, it is characterized by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons (DAn), resulting in severe motor complications. Preclinical and clinical studies have indicated that neuroinflammation can play a role in PD pathophysiology, being associated with its onset and progression. Nevertheless, several key points concerning the neuroinflammatory process in PD remain to be answered. Bearing this in mind, in the present review, we cover the impact of neuroinflammation on PD by exploring the role of inflammatory cells (i.e., microglia and astrocytes) and the interconnections between the brain and the peripheral system. Furthermore, we discuss both the innate and adaptive immune responses regarding PD pathology and explore the gut–brain axis communication and its influence on the progression of the disease.The present work was supported by Prémios Santa Casa Neurociências— Prize Mantero Belard for Neurodegenerative Diseases Research (MB-28-2019), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) to S.M. (CEECIND/01902/2017) and F.G.T. (2021.00643.CEECIND), the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the Competitiveness Internationalization Operational Programme (POCI), national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of projects UIDB/50026/2020, UIDP/50026/2020, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029751, and EXPL/MED-PAT/0931/2021, project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), and under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)

Enhancement of the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of porphyran through chemical modification with tyrosine derivatives

The chemical modification of porphyran hydrocolloid is attempted, with the objective of enhancing its antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Sulfated galactan porphyran is obtained from commercial samples of the red algae Porphyra dioica using Soxhlet extraction with water at 100ºC and precipitation with isopropyl alcohol. The extracted porphyran is then treated with modified L-tyrosines in aqueous medium in the presence of NaOH, at ca. 70ºC. The modified tyrosines L1 and L2 are prepared through a Mannich reaction with either thymol or 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, respectively. While the reaction with 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol yields the expected tyrosine derivative, a mixture of products is obtained with thymol. The resulting polysaccharides are structurally characterized and the respective antioxidant and antimicrobial activities are determined. Porphyran treated with the N-(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butyl-benzyl)-L-tyrosine derivative, POR-L2, presents a noticeable superior radical scavenging and antioxidant activity compared to native porphyran, POR. Furthermore, it exhibited some antimicrobial activity against S. aureus. The surface morphology of films prepared by casting with native and modified porphyrans is studied by SEM/EDS. Both POR and POR-L2 present potential applicability in the production of films and washable coatings for food packaging with improved protecting characteristics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

Porque só é conhecimento quando é publicado: manifesto pela integridade da publicação académica

A ciência e a academia vivem tempos desafiantes que obrigam a repensar o valor do conhecimento e da sua preservação. A publicação desenfreada, a fraude científica, as autorias indevidas, o plágio e a falta ou desconhecimento das questões de integridade – que antes de ser científica deve ser humana – permeiam as relações dentro e fora da academia.Inserido no projeto "Composing worlds: humanities, well-being and health in the 21st century" (CM:HBS21) da Fundação Ensino e Cultura Fernando Pessoa, PortugalC918-3B10-A36E | Diogo Guedes Vidalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determinação de nitritos/nitratos em medula espinal de ratos submetidos à dor neuropática

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Determinação de nitritos/nitratos em medula espinal de ratos submetidos à dor neuropática

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Composing Worlds: Exploring the Metamorphosis of the World in the Age of Climate Change and Its Implications for Health

Climate change (CC) is the greatest evidence of the "metamorphosis of the world" and is changing the temperature and rainfall patterns, but also the social, cultural and health systems on planet Earth. The unpredictability of climactic phenomena and their multidimensional impacts on human and environmental health contribute to making our understanding of the world increasingly difficult. Moreover, history has proven that technoscience alone is not enough to deal with these problems. A global appeal is now emerging for the humanities and social sciences to also deal with the human and non-human issues raised by CC, notably through their integration with the areas of health and sustainability. The aim of this article is to present and discuss some of the first results of the Composing Worlds: Humanities, Well-Being and Health transdisciplinary network, which consists of a network of experts in the humanities, social sciences and health who think about issues of well-being and health in contemporary technological societies. The methodology used in the first phase of the project consisted of an interview with open questions, made by the network of 12 researchers. This was an exploratory study that used thematic analysis to identify the original key ideas of each author and corresponding main themes. The themes were then organised into semantic groups or thematic clusters. It is hoped that some of these clusters will contribute to discussing how CC has already altered our ways of being, living and thinking about the world, and will also contribute to dealing with the challenges related to the risks of CC on health and well-being throughout the 21st century.As alterações climáticas (AC) são a maior evidência da “metamorfose do mundo” e estão a mudar os regimes de temperatura e de pluviosidade, mas também os sistemas sociais, culturais e de saúde no planeta Terra. A imprevisibilidade dos fenómenos climáticos e os seus impactes multidimensionais na saúde humana e ambiental contribuem para tornar a nossa compreensão do mundo cada vez mais difícil. Além disso, a história provou que a tecnociência, sozinha, não é suficiente para lidar com estes problemas. Um apelo global está agora a despertar para que as humanidades e as ciências sociais também lidem com as questões humanas e não humanas levantadas pelas AC, nomeadamente através da sua integração com as áreas da saúde e da sustentabilidade. Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar e discutir alguns dos primeiros resultados da rede transdisciplinar Compor Mundos: Humanidades, Bem-Estar e Saúde, que consiste numa rede de especialistas em humanidades, ciências sociais e da saúde que pensam sobre as questões do bem-estar e da saúde nas sociedades tecnológicas contemporâneas. A metodologia usada na primeira fase do projeto consistiu numa entrevista com perguntas abertas, construída de forma participativa pela rede de 12 investigadores. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa exploratória que utilizou a análise temática para identificar as ideias-chave originais de cada autor e a indução dos temas principais correspondentes. Os temas foram então organizados em grupos de correspondência semântica, ou clusters temáticos. Espera-se que alguns destes clusters contribuam para discutir como as AC já alteraram as nossas maneiras de ser, viver e pensar sobre o mundo, e contribuam também para lidar com os desafios relacionados com os riscos das AC na saúde e no bem-estar ao longo do século XXI.C918-3B10-A36E | Diogo Guedes Vidalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio